


The Scientist Takes Charlie on a Date

by Masterofkarate (orphan_account)



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Anxiety, But no description, Fluff and Angst, M/M, New Relationship, also mentions of nudity, and only in the first chapter, and they shower together, but no sex, the age rating is mostly bc they curse so whatever, the angst is very minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-06 06:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15880050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Masterofkarate
Summary: The scientist and Charlie have very recently become official. To celebrate, the scientist takes Charlie on a date, but keeps the destination a surprise.





	1. Charlie & The Scientist Get Ready For Their Date

**Author's Note:**

> I went to the place that Charlie and the scientist will be going to and I thought of them the whole time. It's two chapters bc I didn't realize how fking long winded I am.
> 
> Anyway, I love my boys and want them to be happy.

Charlie was not an early riser. Usually, the scientist coaxed him out of bed. Sometimes it was with kisses and snuggles, sometimes with music he liked, sometimes with a hearty breakfast. Once in a while, his attempts to gently coax Charlie out of bed was a failure and he'd have to leave a note for Charlie.

Today was very different than usual, though. Charlie woke up first. He woke up nearly two hours before the alarm, actually, at a little after seven. He was excited for today. He and the scientist had officially became boyfriends about a week ago and the scientist had planned a date for them and didn't tell Charlie what he had planned.

So, on this Sunday, despite closing the bar the night before, Charlie was up at seven in the morning. He stayed snuggled in bed for a bit, but was so excited that he was afraid he'd wake his boyfriend (Charlie absolutely loved calling the scientist his boyfriend ever since they became official), so he got out of bed.

He sat on the couch and tried to look through some of the books on the coffee table, but he was too tired and frustrated to read. He turned the TV on a quiet volume, but got bored too quickly. He ended up making breakfast earlier than necessary, although he did hold off until almost eight, which was a pretty impressive example of patience on Charlie's part.

Since it was a special day, Charlie wanted to make a special breakfast. Of course, he decided on a Grilled Charlie. A classic for himself and a Grilled Charlie 2 for his boyfriend. The scientist was not quite fond of the original model, so the two of them worked out a new version of the sandwich.

The scientist said the cheese was a hard no for him (Charlie tried to debate this with him for nearly an hour) he also thought the chocolate made the sandwich too sweet for his taste buds. In the end, they ended with peanut butter, honey, and bananas on the inside of the sandwich and whipped butter on the outside to help the frying. Charlie thought it was boring, but he wouldn't be the one eating it.

When the sandwiches were done, he plated their meals with a mix of berries next to the meal. (The scientist had all of these neat fruits for him to try all the time!) He also poured them both a glass of juice (he stuck with OJ because it was a classic, but he poured his boyfriend cranberry juice because he seemed to like that better. Charlie could not figure out why, but again, he was not the one drinking it so it didn't matter). Clumsily, he carried the two plates and two glasses in his arms. He walked slowly as to not spill or drop anything. The short walk to the bedroom took almost twice as long.

When he got to the bedroom, he was very careful to be quiet. He placed the scientist’s food on his bedside table and then walked to the other side of the table, placing his own breakfast down. The scientist was still sleeping soundly. Charlie smiled down at the sight, he looked so happy and comfy. Charlie didn't usually get to see his boyfriend this vulnerable.

Almost instinctively, Charlie reached down and brushed his hair back before kissing his forehead. The scientist grumbled and turned to his side, facing away from Charlie.

“C’mon, I made breakfast,” Charlie chuckled. He was never in this position, it was nice. He leaned down and placed another kiss on the scientist's jaw.

“Mmm,” the scientist grumbled. He rubbed his eyes and then rolled back over to face Charlie, still laying down. After yawning, he asked, “What time is it?”

“It's like 8:30,” Charlie told him. “Sorry, I couldn't stay asleep, I was too excited.”

The scientist smiled and sat up slowly. With a gruff, low voice he said, “Well you should be.” He spotted breakfast and said, “Thank you for breakfast, darling.”

“I was bored,” Charlie shrugged. They both got situated with their plates in their laps, but sitting close, arms touching. As they began eating, Charlie asked, “So what're we doing?”

“You'll see,” the scientist hummed.

“C’mon,” Charlie whined. “That's not fair!”

“You can make some guesses, or I can give some hints,” the scientist compromised.

“Okay, yeah!” Charlie agreed, nodding happily. “So first question, where are we going?”

“Charlie,” the scientist chastised playfully, clicking his tongue. “Ask some less telling questions, please.”

After an exaggerated sigh, Charlie asked, “Are we gonna be underground?”

“Well,” the scientist paused for a moment in thought before continuing, “We are taking the subway to get there, so for a short while, yes.”

“But not during the date part of the date?” Charlie asked. When the scientist shook his head, Charlie said, “Okay, not a sewer date. Hmm .. . Are we staying in Philly?”

“Yep, we'll be in Philly,” the scientist answered.

“Okay,” Charlie thought for a moment. “Is it a nerd date or a fun date? Not that I don't love nerd stuff, but you know, are we gonna like conclude a study or something or like take a college class or-”

The scientist chuckled and cut Charlie off, only because he knew he would begin rambling, “It's a fun date, although it does have educational aspects to it. I think it's a good blend of both of our personalities.”

“But our personalities are super different!” Charlie huffed. “Like, you don't even like grilled Charlies and you capture mice in your apartment humanely, you don't even kill them after! What could possibly meet in the middle?”

“I think this date will meet in the middle,” the scientist hummed. “Plus, there are plenty of ways we can meet in the middle. For example, we found that science fiction movies are a good movie night for us, because it gives us both things we like in movies.”

“I give up!” Charlie huffed and threw his arms up wildly.

The scientist chuckled and quickly reached over to steady Charlie's plate. He gently placed a kiss on Charlie's cheek and said, “Let's just wait til we get there, huh?”

Charlie rolled his eyes and shrugged, “I guess.”

“Hey,” the scientist hummed, “Don't be upset, you'll know in a few hours.”

“Fine,” Charlie said.

“How about we get ready?” The scientist offered. He placed Charlie's empty plate beneath his own and placed them on the bedside table. “Would you like to shower before we go? I want to.”

“Naw man, I'm good,” Charlie answered.

The scientist wrinkled his nose a bit and said, “Did you shower after work last night? You usually don't come home too clean after closing.”

“Fine, I'll shower,” Charlie huffed.

“It really is up to you, dear,” the scientist said, “But it is hot today, it may feel nice to go out after a refreshing shower.”

“Alright” Charlie shrugged, much calmer. There was a moment of pause and Charlie looked anywhere but at his boyfriend as he asked softly, “Can I shower with you?”

They'd done it together, plenty of times, even before they started dating. Some nights it was the only way to convince Charlie to shower, but it still felt awkward to ask. So far, it was the most sexual they got other than kissing. They didn't do anything sexual in the shower, but they did see each other's dicks and help wash each other sometimes.

“Of course,” the scientist reassured quickly, knowing Charlie was nervous. “Can you take the dishes in the kitchen and load the dishwasher? I'll get the shower running.”

With a newly reassured smile, Charlie nodded and quickly got to work. When the dishes were put away, Charlie walked to the bathroom. He knocked gently in warning before letting himself in the bathroom.

The scientist was in the shower already, so Charlie began to disrobe. When he was undressed, he said, “Coming in, dude.”

The scientist hummed happily and stepped towards the back of the shower, making room for Charlie. When Charlie stepped in, he noticed his boyfriend was already hard. That made him a little nervous, but they both had been hard in the shower and in bed before and neither of them ever made it weird, so Charlie just ignored it.

The scientist was already washing his body with soap when Charlie joined. Charlie shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, just letting the water hit him.

“Do you want me to help?” The scientist offered as he gently pressed his fingers against Charlie's arm to switch their positions so he could rinse off.

“Yeah man, whatever,” Charlie answered in a higher than natural pitch. He wanted this, he hated that he was nervous now. He hated even more that it was obvious.

“Alright dear, as soon as I'm rinsed off,” the scientist promised. He rinsed his own body with water before gently dragging the washcloth over Charlie's chest and down his tummy. He stopped right above his waist and instructed his boyfriend to turn around. He then washed Charlie's back, more of a massage than washing. Charlie loved it though. His tension was worked out with the warm water and gentle touch and soothing scents. He was starting to get hard, but he decided not to be embarrassed, because if a classy guy like the scientist could be hard without even being touched, this shouldn't be shameful.

“Here you are,” the scientist hummed, handing the washcloth back to Charlie over his shoulder when he finished off. “Finish up and then we'll switch so you can rinse off and I can wash my hair.”

Charlie hummed happily and began to wash his legs and feet, and said, “Yeah, but wait til I'm rinsed off, I can wash your hair, dude. It feels super good. My fingers are humble, remember?”

“Thank you,” the scientist said, smiling fondly, “Your fingers are nimble, darling.”

“Oh yeah! Nimble!” Charlie exclaimed happily.

Soon, they switched spots in the shower. The scientist politely looked away as Charlie rinsed off. When Charlie was done, he worked his fingers through the scientist's hair, using the fruit-scented shampoo. When the scientist's hair was washed out, he returned the favor. That was probably both of their favorite parts of the shower. 

They stepped out together and wrapped themselves in towels. The scientist led Charlie to the bedroom.

“What am I supposed to wear? I brought clean clothes, but I didn't bring anything fancy because I didn't have anything fancy.”

“Shorts and a comfortable shirt is perfect,” the scientist reassured.

“I only have jeans with me,” Charlie whined.

“That works fine too, sweetheart. I only suggested shorts because it's quite hot outside, but we'll only be walking a few blocks from the subway to our location.” the scientist reassured quickly.

“Okay, yeah,” Charlie smiled, already beginning to tug his clothes on.

When the two men were dressed, the scientist checked the time and hummed, “We can leave now. We may be fifteen minutes or so early, but that's fine.”

“Okay, yeah, the sooner I know, the better!” Charlie agreed happily.

“Let's go, dear,” the scientist said, taking Charlie's hand. 

They walked a few blocks to the subway together. Only one block away from the scientist's apartment, Charlie let go of his boyfriend’s hand, only because his was getting sweaty. It really was hot.

They walked down the steps, descending below the concrete together. Charlie had a reloadable card, but the scientist had to purchase tickets from the kiosk for himself. 

They sat on a bench, but thankfully, they only had to wait a few minutes before a train arrived. The scientist led them on and once they were inside, Charlie was thankful for the refuge from the heat. Once he cooled down, he rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and closed his eyes. Waking up too early made him sleepy, plus, if he stayed too alert, all he'd do is bug the scientist about where they were going.

At the Race-Vine stop, the scientist gently kissed the top of Charlie's head and said, “Time to get going.”

With renewed energy, Charlie jumped up. “Oohh we're in the classy part of the city!”

“Yes we are,” the scientist chuckled. “You excited?”

“Hell yeah!” Charlie said, following the scientist through the subway and up the stairs.

As they climbed the steps and were above ground again, Charlie looked around in wonder. This is the part of city they show on TV. This is where he and the gang go when they've got a particularly expensive scheme going on and need a loan. It's not the almost-suburban north east, but it's the bustling part of the city. The part tourists visit. Somewhere he'd never go for a casual date. He was so excited, but also nervous. What if the scientist finally realized he wasn't good enough to be with him?

Charlie's thoughts were racing and his feet were following. He didn't even realize he was half a block ahead of the scientist until he started crossing the street at a red light only to get honked at. He started yelling at the car when he heard the scientist calling his name quite a few feet behind him.

“Hey,” the scientist said softly, once he caught up to Charlie, “It's not a race, you don't even know where we're going.”

Charlie huffed and crossed his arms in frustration, “Whatever man, I was just walking.”

“Just wait up for me, huh?” The scientist suggested in a soft, low voice. “And we need to be careful with crossing here, it's a much busier part of the city.”

“You can't blame that guy's shitty driving on me!” Charlie shouted, unfolding his arms to gesture passionately.

“I'm not blaming anything on you,” the scientist whispered. “I said  _ we  _ need to be careful.”

Charlie rolled his eyes and began walking, slower now, after the light turned green.

“Everything okay?” The scientist asked after walking half a block in silence. “We can go home if you're not feeling well.”

“I feel fine!” Charlie snapped.

“It seems to me that you’re upset about something,” the scientist answered.

Charlie looked at the ground and shrugged.

The scientist spotted the building they were going to. Along the outside was a half-wall. He saw one spot covered in shade thanks to a small tree. Quietly, he said, “Would you like to stand in the shade for a minute to calm down? We will be arriving early anyway.”

Charlie shrugged quietly, but already began walking towards the spot. He leaned against the wall and kept his arms crossed, looking at the ground.

“Have I said something to upset you?” The scientist asked softly. He was also looking at the ground. He had no idea what was upsetting Charlie, but the fact that it may be something he did or said was upsetting to him.

“No man, you're good,” Charlie mumbled. It was quiet for a moment. The scientist had opened his mouth to say something else when Charlie finally confessed, “You're too good, man. That's the problem! Like, we're in this classy place where rich people come and you brought me and I'm not classy or rich and I'm gonna just embarrass you. You're gonna hate me and then you won't wanna be my boyfriend anymore and then we won't be allowed to be friends either because those are the rules.”

“Oh darling,” the scientist said quietly. He felt his heart break for Charlie. “First of all, you don't and won't embarrass me. Second of all, there's no way I could hate you. Third of all, if we did for some reason break up, we could still be friends. Lastly, I picked this date because I thought it was something you'd enjoy. If you'd rather go home, we can. And we can do whatever you'd like.”

Charlie looked up at the scientist slowly. “We could really be friends you didn't like me as your boyfriend?”

“Of course,” the scientist whispered, “But I do enjoy having you as a boyfriend.”

Charlie smiled and nodded, feeling calmer. “Okay, yeah, you're a cool boyfriend too. I mean you're taking me on a secret mystery date. There's nothing cooler than that.”

The scientist chuckled softly and said, “Would you like to know where we're going?”

Charlie lit up and nodded. The scientist gently took his hand and walked them only a few feet away, so that they could get a better view of the building. 

“We're here,” the scientist hummed happily.


	2. Charlie and the scientist have their date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They have their date and it is cute and happy and Charlie will be happy forever like he deserves.

“It's a museum?” Charlie asked, he was still smiling brightly. “So it is a nerd date, but like a cool nerd date.”

The scientist chuckled and shook his head fondly. “It's not a nerd date, and it's not just any museum. It's the Franklin Institute. It's very scientific in nature, and it's very hands on. Plus, there's a special exhibit going on that I thought you'd like.”

“Oooh, perfect date for two men of science,” Charlie said happily. “So what's the exhibit? And what is an exhibit?”

“An exhibit is just a word for a section in the museum. This one will only be here for a short while. It is about video games,” the scientist told Charlie.

“That's kinda cool, dude!” Charlie said, nodding his head happily. “So like are we gonna just learn about video games or…”

“There are definitely some to play,” the scientist told him.

“Dude that's awesome! A museum that has video games!” Charlie said happily.

The scientist checked his watch and looked up the stairs before saying, “The doors are unlocked, some people are already going in, would you like to go?”

“Let's go!” Charlie said, already running up the stairs, practically dragging the scientist by the hand.

With a winded laugh, the scientist said, “No need to run, darling. They're open til five. We can be here all evening if we choose.”

“Alright cool,” Charlie laughed. 

When they got inside, Charlie gaped at the huge statue in the second room. “Dude! You didn't tell me it was a statue museum, I thought it was a science museum! Who's this dude?”

“That's Ben Franklin,” the scientist told Charlie, wrapping his arms around his waist as they stood in front of the statue. “That's probably the only major statue we’ll see, this is primarily a science museum.”

“Why's he so special that he gets the only statue? And it's so big!” Charlie exclaimed, pointing at the towering statue of the seated founding father. 

“Well, the museum is named after him. He was a very important man. Not only was he a founding father, but he was a great inventor and scientist for his time. He had great theories on physics as well as electricity,” the scientist told Charlie.

Charlie shrugged and then said, “Fine, I guess he can get a statue.”

The scientist chuckled and shook his head fondly. “Are you ready to get our tickets?”

Charlie nodded and pulled out of his boyfriend's hold, shifting to take his hand. He followed the scientist to the will-call counter and got the tickets he'd ordered online. The scientist wrapped a wristband around Charlie's wrist and Charlie did the same for his boyfriend.

“Alright, let's sit down and make a plan for the day,” the scientist told him.

Charlie rolled his eyes, but not in a mean way. He rolled his eyes with a smile, the way you do when your boyfriend liked itineraries and you like to go with the flow.

“Would you like to do the exhibit first or later in the day?” The scientist said once they were comfortably seated on a bench, looking down at a pamphlet and map.

“First,” Charlie decided.

“Okay great,” the scientist hummed. “We also have access to the planetarium. There are three shows. There is one about the sky tonight and how it looks, there is one about asteroids called Asteroid: Mission Extreme, and-”

“Mission Extreme!” Charlie interrupted excitedly. “I wanna see that one!”

“You don't want to hear the third?” The scientist chuckled.

“Does it have the words asteroid, or mission, or extreme?” Charlie asked, rolling his eyes.

“I suppose it doesn't,” his boyfriend answered.

“Then the asteroid one!” Charlie answered.

“Alright. The latest showing for that is at 3:30 and the planetarium is on the bottom floor. I think it would be best to go to the top floor after the exhibit and work our way down, visiting the planetarium before exploring the third floor.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Charlie agreed, bouncing his legs. “Can we start now?”

The scientist smiled and stood up, taking Charlie's hand. With his free hand, he pointed to the entrance to the video game exhibit, “We'll go that way.”

Charlie followed the scientist. They gave two tickets to a person outside of the exhibit and soon they were walking up a ramp. On the floor were decals of Pacman, the dots he eats, and the ghosts.

Charlie made a sound to echo the video game sound every time he stepped on a dot and dodged the ghosts, tugging the scientist back and forth.

“Is this the exhibit?” Charlie asked, “We’re gonna play video games in real life?”

“Well,” the scientist laughed. “I don't think the exhibit will be much like this. I think there will be video game consoles and such.”

“That's kinda lame,” Charlie said, still smiling. “It'll still be fun. Wish I could really eat these dots though.”

“Well, sorry darling,” the scientist hummed. He pointed as they reached the end of the ramp, “I think we're about there.”

With that, Charlie nearly took off running, pulling his now laughing boyfriend along. When they got to the room, Charlie stopped and looked around in awe.

The exhibit was dimly lit and filled with arcade games. Although the museum had opened only minutes ago, there were a fair amount of people in the room. It didn't look anything like a museum to Charlie, it just looked like an arcade.

“Ready to look around?” The scientist prompted gently, squeezing Charlie's hand.

Charlie nodded. The two of them went from console to console. The first half of the room was arcade style games. There were some old ones, some Charlie didn't remember, some classics. As Charlie played, the scientist read the plaque on the wall about the makers of the games.

Charlie made the scientist play some of the classics like Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Donkey Kong. The second half of the room had some more advanced games, Charlie was most hype about Sonic the Hedgehog.

“You gotta do this one!” Charlie said when they reached a seated racing game. “You're always such a careful driver, you gotta let loose!”

The scientist chuckled and shook his head fondly, but still stood in a small line with Charlie to wait for the game.

“It'll be fun!” Charlie insisted when the scientist shook his head. 

“I'm sure, doll,” the scientist said, half-heartedly.

“Really,” Charlie insisted. “You're gonna kick ass at this game, way better than how shitty you were at the other games.”

The scientist laughed and said, “Gee, thanks.”

“Listen, you're good at tons of stuff, you don't seem too good at tons of other stuff to be good at video games too,” Charlie reassured him.

“Well thank you,” the scientist hummed. 

The kid in front of him got out of the seat. Charlie let go of the scientist's hand and the scientist got in the seat. 

Charlie stood next to the scientist and put his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, massaging it playfully. He cheered the scientist on and even convinced him to hit a few cars.

“That was fun, huh?” Charlie asked when the scientist stepped out of the seat.

“Yeah it was,” the scientist agreed, taking Charlie's hand as they walked away. “And I did a bit better at that game, huh?”

“Yeah man, if I ever need a getaway driver, I know who to call,” Charlie laughed.

The two of them finished off that room. The scientist convinced Charlie to watch one of the educational videos with headphones, but Charlie got mad because it was in a foreign language with subtitles, so they went back to the scientist just reading off the plaques on the walls.

When they finished that room, a sign on the wall read “Exit” and another sign read “Continue Exhibition.” Charlie stood in front of the sign to read them carefully. He didn't like misreading things in front of his boyfriend. Although he never got made fun of, he still wanted the scientist to think he was smart. 

After a moment Charlie exclaimed, “There's more?”

“How about we see?” the scientist hummed, leading Charlie towards the path to continue.

The second part was a bit more advanced in terms of games. Plenty of motion games, musical songs and dance songs, tablet games, and even VR games. Charlie made the scientist do every single interactive game. Although the scientist was embarrassed himself, he was quite impressed with Charlie's musical and dancing abilities. Charlie was the only person to make the scientist let loose like this.

When they had played nearly every game, they finally left, both of them beaming.

“And I would walk five hundred miles and I would walk five hundred more,” Charlie sang half to himself and half to his boyfriend as they bounced out of the exhibit.

The scientist laughed and led them towards the stairs. When they approached the stairs, he brought Charlie towards the rail.

“Look down, darling,” the scientist said.

“Woah! What is that?” Charlie asked with a grin, leaning down to look at the swinging pendulum.

The scientist told him it was a pendulum and then briefly explained what that meant. He then read the plaque explaining how it gradually changes direction over the day due to the motion of the Earth and how that was proved by the dominos, only some of which were knocked over by now. Charlie had a thousand questions and the scientist answered as many as he could.

They went through the museum, starting at the top, as they agreed. Charlie had never thought a museum could be as fun as this museum was. It wasn't about learning lame facts, there were a bunch of interactive games and toys and such that could help explain concepts. Every time they did something, the scientist explained what concept they were learning.

They went through the top two floors. When they finished the second floor, they stopped in the cafeteria to eat. 

“What's been your favorite part so far?” The scientist hummed as they sat down to eat.

“Hmm,” Charlie said as he chewed. “Well, I really liked the sports part, but there were too many kids. Walking through that weird heart was weird though, I felt like a trapped rat. I did like bouncing through those weird nets when we were supposed to be inside the brain, that was cool! You shoulda bounced with me, I was able to slide through all the small cracks, you coulda done it too.”

“I don't think I would have enjoyed being a neuron,” the scientist chuckled. “So was that your favorite part?”

“No, I think I liked the electricity bit better! They had that cool thing to shock your fingers! And we got to stomp on the floor!” Charlie laughed.

“I like the electricity room too,” the scientist hummed. “I especially enjoy the bit where it shows how much electricity you use through changing the lighting on the city board based on your activity. Remember the green, yellow, and red cities?”

Charlie nodded excitedly. “Yeah that was pretty cool! Your city was way worse than mine!”

“Yes it was,” the scientist chuckled.

They then discussed the scientific things they've learned. The conversation was lively and filled with laughter. They finished about ten minutes before the planetarium show, so the scientist led him down the stairs and they waited in a line, which was already forming.

“What do you think it's gonna be like?” Charlie asked, swinging their hands playfully. “Is it going to be like we're really in space?”

“Well, not quite,” the scientist hummed. “It will look quite neat though, I'm sure.”

“The only time I've been at a planetarium, there was this weird science guy telling us about the sky, and we got stoned.” Charlie hummed in thought before asking, “Is it going to be like that?”

“Well, we will not be getting stoned,” the scientist laughed. “I don't think it will be a lecture-like show. I think it will be projections, maybe a narrator.”

“You think it'll be extreme?” Charlie asked happily.

“Hopefully, dear, that's what the pamphlet said.” The scientist answered.

They mused about the show they were to see until they were allowed in. Charlie led them towards one of the back seats. They talked happily about space and asteroids until the lights turned off. Charlie tried to comment early on, but the scientist quietted him, telling him it was a rude time to talk.

It was not extreme at all. It was mostly boring. Despite being annoyed by it, Charlie just let his head fall on the scientist's shoulder and closed his eyes until it was over.

The scientist kissed the top of Charlie's head before asking, “Didn't like it?”

“It wasn't extreme at all!” Charlie answered, standing up.

“I know, I'm sorry,” the scientist hummed. “I thought it would be more exciting too.”

“There wasn't even a mission,” Charlie sulked.

“Well, we have two more exhibits to go to. Would you like to visit the one about space?” the scientist offered.

“I'm mad at space,” Charlie mumbled.

“Are you sure you don't want to try that one? The other one I wanted to save for last and keep a bit of a surprise,” the scientist admitted.

“No screw space! Let's do the surprise one!” Charlie answered.

The scientist chuckled and said, “If you're sure,” before leading them to the train part of the museum.

“Dude! It's all trains!” Charlie said happily. “This isn't even science!”

The scientist chuckled and explained a bit of the science behind trains. Then, the two of them went through each interactive bit, learning about energy and friction, and Charlie's favorite part- magnets.

When they finished, the scientist ended it by bringing Charlie onto the train. It was a model of the front of an old train. It looked exactly like what one might imagine when thinking of an old train- buttons and valves and metal everywhere. There wasn't too much to interact with, but Charlie did make the train blow its fake whistle sound enough times that the scientist had to gently remind him to give others a chance.

When they wrapped up, the scientist offered one last time for Charlie to visit the space portion of the museum, but he insisted he was still mad at space and they walked back to the subway. The ride back to the scientist's house was mostly quiet, especially since he slept much less than usual the night before. 

“Are you having dinner here, love?” The scientist asked when they walked into his apartment.

“If that's cool, yeah, Frank's mad at me so he put all his food in the locked freezer,” Charlie answered with a shrug.

“Why's Frank mad at you?” The scientist asked, already bracing himself for an outlandish answer. He always got outlandish answers about Charlie's friends.

“It's a big political mess!” Charlie said, throwing his arms in the air. “He's jealous of you but mad at me because he doesn't know who he's jealous of, he's convinced your one of his old whores trying to get back at him through me!”

“So he's sad you're spending less time with him?” The scientist simplified.

“Oh if it was only that,” Charlie laughed, shaking his head. “But enough about Frank, do you want help making dinner?”

“No, you made breakfast and you seem tired, feel free to watch TV or nap,” the scientist answered, shaking his head. “I'll come get you when dinner's ready.”

Charlie took a nap on the couch in front of the TV, combining his boyfriend's ideas. He was awoken my gentle kisses to his cheek, the best way to wake up.

Over dinner, they mainly discussed the museum some more. Charlie decided that he would bring rocks next time he went, because if you know you're going to see a train, it's obligatory to bring rocks. The scientist couldn't convince him not to. The scientist was shocked to hear Charlie had never been there, not even with school, but less shocked to hear that he usually didn't go on field trips due to a mix of money and misbehavior. They talked about science and Charlie did seem to retain quite a few fun facts from the day.

After dinner was cleaned up and the couple was cozied up on the couch with the news on TV, Charlie sighed happily. 

“Today was really cool,” Charlie said quietly. “You send it was a date that blended our personalities and it did. And if that's what you get when you blend our personalities, then us being boyfriends is a really good thing.”

“I think it is,” the scientist hummed softly, pulling his boyfriend closely ever so slightly.

“Yeah probably,” Charlie agreed before leaning over and giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, like I said, I was at the Franklin Institute the other day and it was the bomb dot com. Haven't been since childhood and I'm so mad I waited this long to be back.
> 
> If ur ever in Philly, go check it out. This whole fic was an unpaid advertisment for the museum.

**Author's Note:**

> Ohhhh where are they gonna go??? It's a mystery!!!


End file.
